Sri Lankan prodigy Dunith Wellalage showed everyone why the 20-year-old was seen as to be Sri Lanka’s next ‘big thing’. The left-arm all-rounder put up a masterclass both with the bat and the bowl in the IND vs SL encounter in Asia Cup 2023 Super 4s.
Wellalage, who was just playing in his 13th ODI, ended the match with his first 5-wicket haul and posted his highest-ever score (42) with the bat while remaining unbeaten. The left-arm spinner scalped the prized wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, and KL Rahul to kickstart his ODI career.
His spirited effort, both with the bat and bowl, and crucial 63-run partnership with Dhananjaya de Silva went in vain as Sri Lanka was bundled out for 172 by the Indian bowlers.
Such was the youngster’s (Dunith Wellalage) performance against India that former World Cup winner, Gautam Gambhir said, “For me, more than his bowling, his batting was exceptionally well done under pressure. Overall, nobody as young as 20 years has ever bowled this way against a strong team like this. Today, it was an India vs. Wellalage match.”
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Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan also echoed what Gambhir said. Pathan, who was primarily seen as a bowling all-rounder, praised the left-arm orthodox spinner’s skill and guile.
“Man of the Match is someone who throughout the match shows his skills. Be it with a bat or a ball. Today, Dunith Wellalage today faced daunting players with 30,000 runs. He dismissed top players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and with finesse. Lastly, the final catch against Hardik Pandya was outstanding. He used such variations in skills and took complete advantage of all the existing conditions. Showing this at just the age of 20, against an Indian player who took 5 wickets in a single match, shows great promise!”
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